Trust
by moonbaby97
Summary: The days of and leading up to the Potters murder.


Title- Trust

Author- moonbaby97

Disclaimer- If you are actually reading this, you know the deal. Not mine.

Trust

Remus knew they all suspected him of being the traitor, the one leaking information to the Dark Lord. It made sense really, he didn't blame them. He was a werewolf, a dark creature, a monster of the night. He was the likely choice. But it wasn't him! Remus loved James and Lily and was truly trying to do everything he could to help keep them safe. But they had started losing faith in him and now Remus was told less and less information on the Potters situation. James had told him that they were going to choose a Secret Keeper, but he hadn't said who it was. There was a lot of planning that had to go into this and Remus knew that Sirius would most likely become their Secret Keeper. He was practically James' brother, they trusted him. But not completely. Sirius was the most likely to be out in Slytherin and that was slowing down the decision making process. The letter in front of him said that Sirius was thinking about it. Lily was trying the hardest to keep him in the loop and sent him owl updates around once every other week. Remus was glad Sirius was thinking about it, making his decision carefully, taking this seriously (living up to his name for once). But it also worried him, that Sirius had to think. What if that was a sign? Was Sirius the one passing secrets on to the Dark Lord? Remus knew it wasn't himself and it obviously wasn't James or Lily. And Harry could barely talk and therefore didn't understand any of this. Dumbledore and the select Aurors that were in on the Potters protection couldn't be it because they were all handpicked and came up with most of the protection anyway. That left Sirius and Peter. No one else knew anything, not either of their families; no one. Nobody thought Peter would have the courage to even think of betraying them and had always looked up to James. But Sirius had been James' best friend for as long as anyone could remember. So who was it?

"I can't do it, Prongs. Id crack as soon as they tortured me, I wouldn't make it. I'm obviously the most likely too, being your best mate and all. If it's not me, then they'd kill me for nothing and I could die happy knowing I'd kept you safe. I'm sorry, James, Lily. I can't," Sirius said.

"That's okay, Padfoot, if you don't feel comfortable we're certainly not going to make you be our Secret Keeper. That would be pointless," James replied, slapping his friend on the back. But Sirius could see the stress, frustration, and fatigue on both his and Lilys faces.

"Sorry guys, you should ask Peter, no one would suspect him, and once you talk him through it he'll see he's a pretty good choice," Sirius said, feeling kind of bad. Then he felt doubly bad for not suggesting Remus. Kind, intelligent, quiet Remus. Could he really be the one betraying James and Lily? The all sighed as if thinking the same thing.

"Okay, let's go ask Peter. Thank you, Sir, really."

"No problem, Jamie, sorry I can't help more. Give Dumbledore a hello and good evening for me. Bye, Lil, give an extra kiss to that beautiful boy of yours for me, too," he said.

Lily leaned over and gave James a peck on the cheek. She smiled, watching Sirius roll his eyes. "Oh!" she said sarcastically, "You meant Harry, didn't you?"

Sirius smiled and messed up James' hair, further than it already was, that is. "Because we all know he'll grow up to be more handsome than you, Prongs, admit it," Sirius teased.

James smiled back at his friend, pushing Sirius off him. "Ha. Ha. You two are hilarious." James said, trying to look hurt and failing terribly. He gave in and laughed with the others.

Sirius' grin widened. This was the first time in a while that he'd seen his friend smile, even longer since he's laughed. They said their final goodbyes and James and Lily left. Lilys best friend, a former Hogwarts Hufflepuff, was watching Harry. /God, I hope that all make it through this/ he thought.

He saw four boys, laughing and playing on the Hogwarts Express. The same friends causing mischief and getting out of trouble. James and Lilys wedding. The day Harry was born. Him and Remus babysitting Harry. Himself telling James he couldn't be their Secret Keeper. Them asking Peter, and after a while, him accepting. He saw Dumbledore perform the spell and felt the relief of knowing his friends were safe. Then it all changed. He saw a dark clad figure glide toward the Potters safe house in the middle of the night. He heard James and Lily screaming, saying what would be their last words to each other. He saw the green light and watched his best friend fall to the ground, lifeless. He heard Lily plead with the cloaked figure, asking him to spare Harry. He saw the cruel smile and heard the strangled laugh as way of reply. He watched the green light fill the room again as Lily fell to the ground. He saw the man turn his wand on the little green-eyed boy in his crib. He saw the green light.

Sirius' eyes snapped open. He was breathing hard and was drenched in a cold sweat. /It was just a nightmare/ he told himself as he rushed to get dressed anyway. The images kept replaying themselves before him. Only the bad ones. He shook his head to clear his mind.

Peter hadn't checked in that night. They had a system where everyone would check in with someone else in a chain reaction so they knew everyone was okay. Or not. But when Peter hadn't checked in on time Sirius had checked in with Remus anyway, not telling him he hadn't heard from Peter. Peter's been late before. It was nothing to worry about he had told himself, but in his gut he had felt that something was wrong. So now he apperated quick to Peters house and knocked. No answer. Sirius let himself in and called out Peters name. Again, no answer. He was getting really worried now. He did a quick check of the house then left, finding no trace of struggle. Nothing. Then he apperated straight to the Potters. He almost cried at what he saw. The house was falling apart, the door blown off its hinges. He ran inside, not stopping until he saw James, the boy he considered his only true brother, and even then he stopped only for a second. He had to keep going, to see for himself if the rest was true. He couldn't break now. Sirius wished with all his might that he was wrong. He ran up the stairs taking them two at a time. When he got to the top, his heart stopped. The nursery door was no longer there and he could see Lilys beautiful red hair, still, on the floor. He walked in, tears streaming down his cheeks. Then, again, he stopped in his tracks. Harry sat in his crib, not making a sound, looking at him. Sirius walked over to him slowly and the little boy reached up his arms, wanting to be picked up. "Pa'fut," he said.

"Shhh, it's okay, Harry. Oh, no, look at your forehead! C'mon, we need to get out of here."

"Mumma," Harry said, pointing at Lily.

"Mummy and Daddy are sleeping right now, Harry. It's okay." Sirius couldn't bring himself to say those words, to tell the one-year-old the truth, even if he wouldn't understand. He walked down the stairs carefully, Harry in his arms with his dark messy hair on his godfathers shoulder. Sirius still had his wand out and he clutched it tightly. /Peter killed them. Peter killed James and Lily. But Harry is alive. How? Peter killed them/ the thoughts refused to leave him alone, but then another occurred. /This is your fault! You suggested Peter be their Secret Keeper! YOU refused./ fresh tears fell from his eyes.

"Pa'fut, w'at wong?" Harry asked, noticing the tears.

"Nothing, Harry, it's okay. I'm going to make it all better. But first we have to get you out of here." then they heard the familiar rumble of his motor bike, and that confused Sirius. He had lent it to Hagrid because he couldn't apperate (he felt he no longer needed it anyway). This confused him further- what was Hagrid doing here? He clutched his wand tighter.

"Sirius? Blimey, what'r you doin' 'ere?" Hagrid asked. "Oi! 'Arry! 'E's okay? What about James 'nd Lily?" Immediately he regretted asking. The change in Sirius' face made the half-giant want to cry. "Oh, no, no' them. I'm so s'rry, Sirius. I'm s'rry for this too, but on Dumbledores orders I gotta take 'Arry. Gonna take 'im to 'is Aunt and Uncles. Dumbledore's said 'e'll be safe there," Hagrid said, looking indeed very sorry.

"I'll be there as soon as I can, I'd like to talk to them," Sirius replied, giving Harry to Hagrid and kissing the boys head. "I'm going to make it okay, Harry, I promise," he said before running out the door.

"Sirius! Where'r ya goin? You can't visit 'Arry- Dumbledores orders. Talk to 'im!" he called after Sirius.

Sirius barely heard him, his head was pounding. He knew where Peter would go. He had to find him- make him pay. But then a damage control wizard was suddenly in front of him.

"You can't leave here, sir. You may be a witness," he said. He was young; he looked scared and had his wand out. He obviously didn't think Sirius was mentally stable. Maybe he wasn't. Sirius didn't care, he just apperated away. Then he saw Peter in front of him and started running again.

"Peter!" he shouted. "How could you? James and Lily! How dare you!" Peter turned around just before Sirius' spell hit him, muttering a spell of his own. There was a huge explosion. When the smoke cleared, Peter was gone.

Sirius stared, ten started laughing. He'd done it. Peter was dead. Harry would be okay. He walked over to a tree and sat underneath it, still laughing like a madman. He didn't notice the dozen or so dead muggles around him. He barely heard the Auror shouting at him to drop his wand. But he did. It didn't matter. He dropped his wand. It didn't matter. Peter was dead. It was all okay. The Aurors tackled him and not until about 48 hours later would Sirius realize his mistake.

When Remus woke to a pounding on his door, he knew something was wrong. "One minute!" he shouted. He got out of bed and walked over to the door. Whoever was on the other side was very impatient, because they stared banging on the door again. "Okay, okay, I'm here," Remus said. He stopped short when he saw the Aurors standing in front of him. /No/ he thought. /No, they have to be okay. They have to be/ but he went with the Auror, worrying the whole way. /They have to be okay/

When they got to the Auror HQ a familiar face stood in front of him. "Sit," the man behind the desk said. Remus did and the man that brought him there left.

"Alester, what's happened? Are they okay? Please tell me they're okay," Remus whispered the last part. Mad-Eye realized at once that this questioning would be pointless. Of course Remus hadn't killed James and Lily. That's what his gut said, but his Auror instincts still didn't trust the werewolf in front of him.

"Remus, we have a few questions for you," he said, not letting his voice betray anything.

Remus' face fell. All hope was gone now. He looked at Alester Moodey. "They're dead?" he whispered. /Sirius/ he thought. /No/

The end.


End file.
